Commodity vending machine



Oct; 11', 1932. F. MILLS COMMODITY VENDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 20, 1930 s sheets-sheet 1 h ww i Oct. 11, 1932 F. 1.. MILLS COMMODITY VENDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 20, 1930 6. Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 11, 1932. F. L. MILLS 1,381,831

cou'koDITY VENDING MACHINE 'Fil Jan; 20 1930 G'Sheets-Sheet a Oct. 11, 1932. F. L. MILLS 1,881,831

' comomwvmnme momma Filed. Jan. 20. 1930 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 nnumnnnnuumg:

Oct. 11, 1932. F. L. MILLS COMMODITY VENDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 20, 1930 8 Sheets-Sheet s Oct. 1-1, 1932. F. L. MILLS COMMODITY VENDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 20. 1930 s Sheets-Sheet s Patented be. 11, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT orncr.

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- cnrcneo, rumors, A CORPORATION or rumors l COMEODITY VENDING MACHINE Application filed January 20, 1930. Serial No. 421,880.

This invention relates to vending machines and has for its purpose the provision of a machine particularly adapted to the vending of staple commodities such as groceries or othermerchandise now commonly sold by clerks in grocery stores or like places.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a machine of this character which is highly flexible in that certain of the parts may be readily interchanged to adapt the machine for containingdiflerent types and quan tities of articles and to be operated by coins ofdifli'erent denominations.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine of the kind described which may be used as a show-case in which the articles are visible to the customer and from which he may obtain them by simple manipulationof a coin slide or other device for operating the machine through the instrumentality of a coin.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be'apparent as it is better understood from the following description, which, taken in connection with the accompanyin drawings, discloses a preferred embodimen thereof.

Referring to the drawings, I Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a vending machine in which my invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof, with a portion of one of thedrums broken away for convenience in illustration t F 1g. 3 1s a vertical sectional vlew, taken sub stantially on the section line 33 in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a front to back sectional view, taken substantially on the section line 4-4 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a double coin slide which may be used in the machine in case two coins arerequired for operating it;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of said slide;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged partial front to back section showing the means by which the cups or other receptacles are secured within the drum and the means by which. he drum is released for rotation;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the central portion of one of the drums and associated parts,

showin the spring for rotating the drum and dows 22 and being equipped with delivery,

trays23 and coin slides 24, all of which-parts are clearly shown in Fig. 1. The casing is provided with a base 25 adapted to rest upon a counter or other suitable support, the machine by reason of the windows 22,-or other suitable means for. displaying'the contents, being adapted to be used as a show case as ina grocery store or like place.

Drums 26, of which three-are shown in the drawings, are rotatably mounted within the casing 21, said drums, as shown, being mounted upon fixed shafts27 having bearings in uprights 28 rising from a plate 31 secured by screws 32 to the base 25' (see Fig. 3). Arcuate covers 33 are provided in the top of I ing adapted to be lifted to permit'the-filling of the machine with commodities to be dispensed, as will presently appear.

. Shells 36 are provided in the casing enclosing the lower part of the drum toprevent the discharge of the contents except through a chute 37 positionedadjacent an opening 38 in the shells and leading to the tray 23 to which the articles are adapted to be delivered after operation of the machine, as will later be described.

The opposite side plates of the drum 26 are provided with a series of registering notches 39 andwith spring clips 41 securedto said plates at 42 and disposed adjacent .said notches 39. Said clips consist of. two opposed spring members, the central portions of which are oppositely concaved and the the casing, one for each of the drums 26,

ends of which are flared outwardly to provide jaws into which pins 43 on cup members the cups or containers to present them suc-- or containers 44 may be inserted, the cups being held in place between the side plates of the drum by the clamping action of said clips 41 u on pins 43. The drum is rotatable as will ater appear and serves as a carrier for cessively to a point of discharge.

As shown in Fig. 7, the cups 44 may be varied in size andcups of different size are interchangeable, thus contributing material 1y to the, flexibility of the machine. Ordinarily, perhaps, cups of one size would be used in one drum, but it will be manifest that with the clips 41 uniformly spaced and arranged close together, cups of one size may be readily substituted for those of another,

' and cups of different sizes may be placed in the same drum if desired. The latter ar rangement may be desirable to permit the proprietor to give prizes by. increasing the contents of certain of the cups, thus encouraging the patronage of the machine. Said cups are adapted to contain the commodity or commodities'to be dispensed which may be either in package form or loose, the contents being shown in the drawings as packages 45. The contents of'the packages are indicated in Fig. 1 by legends on the packages themselves, although, of course, other means of identification may be employed if desired. Difl'erent commodities are contained within each of the three drums, as

shown in Fig. 1, and of course the machine. might be provided with any desired number of drums.

On the interior of each of the drums 26 surrounding the shaft '27 is a cylinder 46 con taining a spring 47, one end of which is se-' cured to the shaft 27 about which the spring is wound and the other end to the cylinder, asindicated at 48 in Fig. 7. This spring serves to rotate-the drum 36 when the latter is released in manner which will presently be described.

A clock, or governor, mechanism is provided to control-the rotation of'the drum under the influence of the spring 47, such mechanism being shown in Figs.'3' and 8 and comprising a large gear 49 upon the shaft 27 said gear meshing with a pinion 51 upon a stud 52 in the frame upright 28, said stud also carrying a gear 53 meshing with a pinion 54 carried upon a stud 55 mounted in the frame 28, said'studalso carryinga gear 56 meshing with a pinion 57 carried by a stud 58 journaled in arms 59 and 61 at the upper end of the fram'e'upright 28, said stud 58 also carrying a vane ,62 act1ng as a governor in manner which will be readily understood.

' The mechanism just described serves to prevent the drums from jumping under the influence of the springs 47 and causes them to turn at an appropriate rate of speed.

One of the pins'43 on each of the cups 44- is elongated, as shown in Fig. 9, and a latch member 63 piv-.

is adapted to engage oted at 64 to the outside ofaone of the walls of the chute 37, said latch having a tail part 65- normally heldin engagement with a fixed stud 66 on said wall by means of a spring '67 secured at one end to the wall and at the opposite end to said tail part 65 of the latch member 63, said parts being shownin dotted lines in Fig.7 If the cup 44 is of such size as to be provided with-more than one pair of the pins 43, the elongated one will be one of the last pair, considering them in the order that they reachthe passageway 37 during the rotation ofth'e drum. :Wit

the parts in normal position, as shown in Fig. 7, said elongatedpin will be held against into engagement with a coin-operated lever which is pivoted at 7 6' to dependingears 77 on the coin slide 24, the upper end of said rod being pointed and being disposed in a socket 78 in said lever 75. Said lever.

75 is adapted to be actuated by'means of a coin inserted in the appropriate slide 24 for the drum to be actuated, and, for, an illus-.

tration of the construction of the slide, at-

tention is called to Figs. 5 and 6.

The slides may be either single or double, those for the two end drums being shown as single and that for the middle drum as double, as may be seen from viewing Fig. 2 Double slides and single slides for coins of different denomination may all .be of the same size and adapted to be interchangeably fitted in the slide openings in the casing to are locked as shown in Figs. 1,

which they 4 and 7..

The slides consist of a fixed plate 79 mounted in the casing 21 and having surrounding flanges 81 disposed above a slidable plate 82 mounted upon said plate 79 and being provided with a coin receiving opening 83, a slot 84 and a finger-piece 85 by means of which it is adapted to be moved in and out to actuate the'machine through the instrumentality of the coin inserted in the opening 83. When the slide 82 is moved all the way inwardly, the coin passes through an opening 86 in the plate 7 9, and the forward edge thereof drops upon the top of an arm 87 on thellever 75 which is of hell crank.

form, the top of said arm being provided with a shoulder 88 upon which the coin acts during the final inward movement of said of screws 94 and tends to urge ,the dog 89 downwardly, causing the latter to hold the coin in proper relation to the lever to cause the latter tobe actuated thereby. A

pin '95 is provided in the plate 79 and disposed within the slot 84 of the slide 82 to guide the latter in its movement. A dog pivoted at 96 to an ear 97 secured to the member 92 is urged downwardly by means of case, a double slide may be employed, such a spring 98 secured by a screw 99 to said member 92 and serves to prevent complete forward movement of the slide 82 in the event that no coin has been placed in the opening 83, said dog normally resting upon the forward end of the plate.82, as shown in Fig. 6, andbeing adapted to move through said opening 83 and through an opening 101 in the plate 79 to the dotted line pos1tion shown in said Fig. 6, in which it will obviously obstruct the movement of said slide 82.

It may be that the price of the article to be dispensed will be such as to require the use of two coins, such as a nickel and a dime for an article costing fifteen cents. In such as that shown in Fig. 5, in which two openings 83 are provided of different size, there bemg in such case separate dogs 95 and 89 for each of the openings and it being ap-- parent that the slide can not be operated unless there is a coin in each of the openings.

At the end of the inner stroke of the slide 82, the coinwill passthrough the opening 86 and upon return of thelever 75 to the position shown in Fig. 6, the coin will be discharged from the top of the arm 87 into a receptacle orcoin box (not shown).'

Referring again to Fig.7, it will be noted that the downward movement of the rod 73 will disengage the shoulder 71 of the detent 68 from the'tail part 65 of the latch member 63 which will then be turned in counterclockwise direction by reason of the fact. that the spring 47 is stronger than the'spring 67 and the pressure of they elongated pin 43 is thus sutficient to overcome the resistance of said last mentioned spring. As soonas the pin 43 has passed, however, said spring 67 will restore the latch to the position shown in Fig. 7 and by the time the next elongated pin 43 comes against the latch, the detent 68 will have been restored'to normal position by means of the spring 72 and the latch will be heldthereby against further movement until said detent is released by the insertion of another coin. The movement of the drum 26 permitted upon each actuation of the ma chine isjust suflicient to brinlg1 one additional cup 44 mto position above t e chute 37 into which the contents of the cup are discharged.

The em ty cups may be refilled by the proprietor y opening the covers 33 and rotating the drum so as to present the em ty cups at thetop of the machine and he wil of course, upon such occasions, rotate said drum sulficiently to rewind the spring 47 which will have suflicient tension to rotate the drum through one complete revolution.

As has been previously pointed out, the cups or receptacles .44 carried by the drum may be interchan ed as desired according to the commodity 130%)8 dispensed, and since the slides 24 may be interchanged to provide for .the operation of any particular drum with the amount of money which may be the price of the articles contained in the drum, the machine is extremely flexible and well adapted to conditions of commercial use.

' It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a. preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A'vending machine comprising a movable carrier, a plurality of commodity com tainers attachable to said carrier, a discharge chute, and coin-controlled means for moving said carrier to successively bring said containers into position for discharge of the contents thereof through said chute, said carrier being equippedwith means for at- T tachment thereto of containers which vary in dimension in the direction of movement- 2. A vending machine comprisin a carrier drum, a spring for rotating sai drum,

said drum having flanges provided with spaced retaining members, a plurality of commodity containers of sizes which vary with respect to their peripheral span on the drum,said containers being equipped with means adapted-t0 cooperate with said retaining members to removably secure .the con-- tainers within the'drum, a latch for normally holding said drum against rotation, a discharge chute, coin controlled means for releasing said latch to permit the drum to r0 tate under the influence of said spring, and

means associated with said containers for con; trolling the rotation of the drum whereby each movement of the latter brings a filled container into position for discharge of the contents thereof through said chute.

3. A vending machine comprising a rotatable carrier drum having flanges equipped with re istering notches; spring clips being attache to the drum adjacent said notches, a plurality of interchangeable commodity containers of varying sizes, said containers having means for engaging said clips to re-.

movably secure'thecontainers to the drum,

7 a discharge chute adjacent said drum, and

' ity containers witha step motion to bring one of said containers into position to discharge the contents thereof into said chute upon each coin actuation of the machine, attaching devices whereby containers of sizes which vary with, heral span on the drum respect to their peri ma be interchangea ly attached to the'drum,

an means for limiting the movement of said carrier drum so that the movement in' each instance -is proportional to the size of the container to be discharged.

5.'A vending machine comprising a retatable drum, a spring for rotating said drum,a plurality of commodity interchange.- able containers removably attachable to said drum, said containers being of sizes which vary with respect to their peripheral span on the drum and each having a projecting stop pin thereon, a latch normally engaging said pin, and coin-controlled means for releasing said latch upon the insertion of a coin-into the machine to permit an advance of said drum under theinfluence of said spring, suchadvance bringin .one of said contamers into position to disc arge the contents thereof from the machine.

6. A vending machine comprising a re tatable drum, a spring for rotating said drum, a plurality of commodity containers carried by thedrum, each of said containersstop pin thereon, a latch normally engaging said pin, coin-controlled having a projecting.

means for releasing said latch upon the insertion of a com into the machine to permit an advance of said drum under the influence of said spring, such advance bringing one of said containers into position todischarge the contents thereof from the machine, and

means for restoring the latch after actuation toposltion to be engaged by the pin on the next succeeding container, said coin-controlled means holding said latch in such position until the next coin actuation of the machme.

by the drum, a stop pin associated 7. A vending machine comprising a r otatable drum, a spring for rotating sald drum, a plurality of commodity containers removably attachable to said drum, said containers being of sizes which vary with respect to their peripheral span on the drum, a stop pin associated with each of said containers,

a latch normally engaging said pin, and coincontrolled'means for releasing said latch upon. the insertion of a-coin into'the machine to ermit an advance of said drum under the in uence of said spring, such advance bringing one of said containers into position to discharge the contents thereof from the machine. v 8. A vending machine comprislng a rotat-' able drum, a spring for rotating said drum,

a plurality of commodity containers carried with each of said containers, a latch normally engaging said pin, coin-controlled meansfor releasing said latch upon the insertion of a coin into the machine to permit an advance of said drum under the influence of said. spring, such advancebringing one of said containers into position to'discharge the contentsthereof from the machine, and means for. restoring the latch after actuationto' position to be engaged by the pin on the next succeeding container, said coincontrolled means holding said latch in such position until they next coin actuation of, the machine.

9. In a coin-controlled vending machine a carrier drum equipped with interchangeable commodity containers of varying sizes, a

spring for rotating said drum;- means con-=- trolled by said commodity containers to produce successive movements of the drum under the influence of said spring, means for limiting themovements of the drum so that each movement shall be proportional to the size of the container to be discharged, and clock mechanism for controlling the rotation of the drum under the influence of said spring.

10.. A vending machine comprising a movablecarrier, a plurality of commodity containers removably attachable to saidgcarrier,

attaching devices on the carrier whereby containers of slzes Wl'llCh vary 1n dimension in the direction of movement of the carrier-may be interchangeably attached to the carrier,

coin-controlled means for moving said carrier; with a step motion for each coin actuat on,- means for limiting the movement of sald carrier upon any particular actuation of the machine so that such movement shall be proportional-to the size of the container to be discharged and will present such container in position forremoval of the contents thereof, from the machine, a coin slide, a coin ac-I tuated mechanism operable by a coin in said slide, said mechanism being operable by coins of difi'erent denomination determined by the coin slide employed, and the machine being adapted to have coin slides for different coins interchangeably applied thereto.

. 11. A vending machine comprising a carrier drum having flanges equipped with registering notches, spring clipsattached. to the drum adjacent said notches, a plurality of commodity containers having pins thereon adapted to be inserted within and clamped by said clips to hold the containers in the drum, one of the pins on each of said containers being elongated and serving as a stop pin, a latching device mounted adjacent the drum and cooperating with said pin, a spring for rotating said drum, means for holding said vlatch normally in engagement with one of said stop pins, and coin actuated means for releasing said latch to permit the drum to advance until the latch is engaged by the next succeeding stop pin, such movement present-' ing one of said containers to position tor removal of the contents thereof from the machine.

12. In a coin-controlled vendingmachine, a movable carrier equipped with commodity containers which vary in dimension in the T direction of movement of the carrier, means for moving said carrier, meansv for releasing said carrier to cause the same to successively present said containers to a discharge station, and means for stopping the movement of the carrienso that in each instance the movement shall be proportional to the sizeof the container next to be discharged. 13. In a coin-controlled vending machine, 3: a movable carrier equipped with interchangeable commodity containers which vary in dimension in the direction of movement of the carrier, means for moving said carrier, means for releasing said carrier to cause thesame to 4(- successively present said containers to a discharge station, and means for stopping the movement of the carrier so that in each instance the movement shall be proportional to the size of the container next to be discharged.

' 14. In a coin-controlledvending machine, a movable carrier equipped with interchange-' able commodity containers of varying sizes, and means controlled by said commodity containers to produce successive movements of the carrier in accordance with thesiize of the container to be discharged.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification.

FRED L.- MILLS. 

